Candles lighting the darkness
by forthary
Summary: Shepard and Ashley find time for each other while cleaning up for the council in the Terminus Systems. Prequel to Sanctuary in the Void, reading it is not required. Takes place in-between Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2. Highly recommended for Ashmancers and friends of Ashley. Rated M for violence, brief language, suggestive themes and sexual content.
1. Unto the beloved

_Shepard…What I meant to say before Illos wasn't just I love you. I wanted to say you're my saving grace from god. I love you from one end of the galaxy to another for that. Now keep that to yourself, ok?" ~ Ashley Williams_

* * *

It had been 3 weeks since Shepard annihilated Saren and the Normandy led a bittersweet battle against sovereign at the citadel. Despite Shepard's influence as a renegon and with his accomplishments to back him up, the council dismissed his warnings about the reapers and sent him to clean up after the geth and any pirates causing small-time trouble in the Terminus systems. As much as Shepard wanted to rebel against his orders from the council, he knew it wouldn't be worth the risk of facing the firing squad without any good leads to chase down. All he could do was carry out his orders, hope for the best, and continue to love Ashley for the proud and strong soldier that she proved herself to be.

One day, Shepard was mapping out potential geth and pirate bases in the Vallhallan Threshold, plotting out potential bases, anomalies, point of interests, and potential resources that they can salvage for credits. It was hectic to sort through the Normandy's scans to determine what was viable and what was junk. Having enough for one day, Shepard set aside the data to work on later and decided to take a quick nap before going out and making sure the Normandy is ready for battle. As he was halfway to his bed, he heard the door open, and turned around to find Ashley entering his quarters.

"Hey skipper. Got a moment to settle down?"

"I was just going to do that. I got tired of planning out our next strikes against the geth."

"You and me both," Ashley replied as she gestured to sit down at Shepard's round table, which he approved without hesitation. "I gotta admit though, we roll in a lot of credits, and if we keep it up, I could retire early if I wanted to."

As Shepard sat down next to Ashley, he replied, "But you don't."

"Yeah, I just…we're so young, and we still got it in ourselves to be who we wanna be. Even after we blew Saren's ass to dust."

"When are you thinking about retiring, Ashley?"

"That depends on you, skipper."

"Me?" Shepard paused to think before continuing, "It's a good question. If I get enough credits to retire 3 times over, ill probably consider it. But unless we stop the reapers, or my career gets to be too much of a pain in the ass, I'll still be here. I like to have purpose, Ash."

"I hear you there. And im right behind you, Shepard. Wish we could get the council off their asses to do something about it."

"We could, if the geth have any recordings about bringing back the reapers. It worked with Saren."

"Maybe. We haven't found anything in weeks, I just hope it won't be months or years. It would drive me crazy."

There was a slight pause. Things have been slow on the Normandy ever since Saren was eliminated, but it was particularly slow today because they recently entered the Vallhallan Threshold, and activity has been sparse in this system. Shepard decided to spruce up the day by complementing Ashley,

"I couldn't have come this far without you, Ash. There's no other soldier id have watching my 6 than you."

"Really, Shepard? Not even 5 minutes and your whipping out complements?"

"I could go back to teasing you if that makes you better."

Ashley laughed lightly as she replied, "You don't have to Shepard, I'm just kidding. Honestly, I can't think of a better commander to take orders from. Everyone else just…"

"Treated you like crap. Their mistake. I can always pull strings for you if you need me to, just ask and ill work my muscle on them."

"Strong words, Shepard. Now that you mention it, I could use a promotion or two after I helped you take out Sovereign. Sir."

"I'll put in some good words with Admiral Hackett. If he hesitates, ill remind him that im a spectre, and that messing with a spectre can have serious consequences for the alliance."

"What if he says no?"

"Then ill promote you myself. Spectre authority. I'd go rogue too if it wasn't for the council."

Ashley smiled as she replied, "I like what im hearing, Shepard. You're the best at this."

"Nothing but. There's a lot I like about you Ashley, and you've certainly earned more than your rank and your place."

"What exactly have I earned, sir?"

"Good question. Credits for shopping, a snuggle buddy, free sex, unlimited foot and body massages, another place to store your gear, someone to style your hair or nails, and much, much more."

Ashley couldn't help but laugh for a few moments before she replied, "You dream way too much, Shepard. I'm not sure about you painting my nails or styling my hair, though."

"Well, if your nails ever get chipped, cracked, or broken, ill see about buying something that can help them heal. I like my crew at their best."

"I'll hold you to that, Shepard."

"I'll do it right now, actually." Shepard declared as he quickly went on the extranet via his omni-tool to search for nail repair products. As Ashley snickered at his strong intentions, Shepard quickly found Nail gel that can mend together broken nails, and ordered a few bottles to be sent to the Normandy tomorrow. When Shepard was finished, he said,

"I almost forgot, I gotta work on my promotion list and send that in to Admiral Hackett." Ashley smiled as he grabbed a tablet, typed in a few names on a list, with Ashley's right on top, and sent it in to Admiral Hackett for review. As soon as Shepard set his tablet aside on his work table, Ashley smiled and asked,

"If your not too busy skipper, id love a massage right about now."

"Sure. Come lay down on the bed and ill start wherever you want."

"Aye aye, commander." Ashley said with a smile.


	2. Natural feelings

Ashley stood up and laid down on the bed face-down, with a pillow to comfort her. Shepard sat down next to her and asked,

"What can I massage to make you feel better?"

"Foot massage would be great…sir." Shepard slowly took off her boots and socks to start massaging her feet. They were fairly clean, minus some sweat as well as lint from her socks, and were free of calluses and other god-awful things that would be any woman's thorn in the ass. Shepard started at her toes, brushing off any lint he came across, and slowly but surely worked his way down to her heel, and back. During his massage, he couldn't help but notice how attractive her feet were, as well as how soft they felt in his hands, and felt compelled to know her feet on an intimate level. While massaging them, he took a risk by slowly putting his nose up to the soles of her feet and inhaled deeply in different places. To his pleasant surprise, he discovered her feet had a moderate smell of cheese, which turned him on greatly. He looked over and believed Ashley did not notice, being satisfied and content with the massage she was receiving. As Shepard continued her foot massage, he was compelled to know what they tasted like, and after working his morale up, dared to put his tongue on her toes to experience the taste. Slowly, cautiously, yet surely, he put the tip of his tongue on her left big toe, which had the faint taste of soft skin and surprisingly, salt.

"What is that…" Ashley looked back to find out why her toe felt wet and caught Shepard licking her toe, even after he tried hiding it. He knew he was guilty, and merely held onto her foot while stopping the massage, but rather than show guilt, waited to see how Ash would react.

Ashley smiled, almost as to laugh and said, "You have a foot fetish, don't you Shepard?"

"I'd say I have an Ashley Williams fetish, but sure, I like your feet. They're very nice."

Ashley laughed as Shepard said this, being weirded out but also excited at the same time as she discovered one of Shepard's intimate secrets. She really had to get to the bottom of this as she asked him several questions,

"So, you mean to tell me that you would lick my feet even after a long day of me running around in heavy armor and shooting up the scum of the galaxy. Am I right?"

"Yup."

Ashley teased, "What if they were all nasty and had calluses on them? Geez Shepard, I can't believe you'd do that!"

"Well, that's what pedicures are for. Id get something to remove the calluses so they wouldn't bother you. And I wouldn't use my teeth; no offense, but I don't want to draw blood, or swallow calluses."

Ashley laughed even harder as she heard Shepard's sincerity and care for her before eventually calming down and teasing further, "God, if I had athlete's foot, I bet you'd want to lick that right off, you gross bastard."

"Actually, I wouldn't. Probably wouldn't even give you a foot massage too. Doesn't mean id do nothing about it, there's plenty of treatments for athletes foot I'd buy for you, so you can get rid of it. Besides, I don't think your careless enough to neglect your feet that much, they seemed pretty clean to me, even if they're a bit cheesy."

"Cheesy?" Ashley laughed a little more before continuing, "What the hell's that supposed to mean?"

"That's what the soles of your feet smell like. Cheese. Mostly in between your toes and at the arch of your foot."

"Seriously? You licked and smelled them? I'm not dreaming, am I?" Ashley smiled widely before continuing, "Tell you what, footboy, if you massage everything else I want you to, you can come back to lick and smell my feet all you want. But right now, I need a back massage. Get on it!"

"As you wish, LT."

Shepard moved from her feet to her lower back, wrapping a blanket around her feet and legs to keep them warm, and wondered if he could get her shirt off for more reasons than one. He pulled out the best of his paragon and asked,

"If you want me to massage really deep, id be happy to do it if you took off her shirt."

"What?" Ashley snickered before continuing, "Alright Shepard, you're the only one I'd take my shirt off for, but the bra stays on. Got it?"

"Got it." Shepard replied as Ashley bent up, took off her shirt, and laid back down for her back massage. Shepard started on her lower back, and noticed it was a little difficult to work his way up because her back was tense and tough. However, the relief he provided must have proven beneficial, as Ashley was breathing deep and indicating in other ways that she enjoyed the massage. It took him a few minutes before he managed to reach the middle of her back, which was not as tense as her lower back. The middle of her back felt soft and curvy, more than her lower back. Somehow, it seemed, Shepard benefited from his massage, even if it benefited Ashley more. It felt good to feel the softness of her skin and how relieved she feels when he massages a good spot. As Shepard worked his way to her upper back, he faced difficulty again as he faced more tenseness and toughness as he did when he massaged her lower back. Shepard slowed down to be real through with his massage, and even did another round to ensure that Ashley's back was fully relaxed and massaged. As Shepard completed his second round on her upper back, Ashley demanded,

"My shoulders and neck could use some TLC,"

Shepard went straight to work massaging her shoulders and neck after wrapping more of the blanket around her back. He started with her shoulders, working from one shoulder blade to another, and then back. Shepard noticed that Ashley had a dark bruise on her left shoulder and asked,

"Before I touch it, does this bruise hurt?"

"It does a little. Please, don't touch it, it really does hurt."

"Is it alright if I grab a relieving patch to make it feel better?"

"Sure."

Shepard wrapped the rest of the blanket around Ashley to keep her warm, and went over to the med-bay to pick up a relieving patch. Dr. Chakwas was not present, so he could be in and out without keeping Ashley waiting. When Shepard returned, he tore open the small, white relieving patch, prepared it, and wrapped it around Ashley's bruise on her shoulder as carefully as possible, minimizing her pain in the process. When Shepard was done, he asked,

"Someone shoot you behind your shoulder?"

"Must have. Probably one of the geth. It hurt like hell, but at least it's mostly healed over."

"It'll heal without a hitch. You're a survivor, Ash."

"Shut up and keep massaging me."

Shepard peeled back the blanket and continued her shoulder massage, finishing up and double-checking his work. When he was done, he worked his way to her neck, which was rigged, and difficult to massage due to the inherent nature of neck massages. He started at her lower neck and went from one side to another, being careful not to pinch any veins or arteries in the process. As he went to and from each side, he double-checked his work by going around again, knowing that he did a job well done if Ashley was breathing deeply and indicating she was enjoying her massage. It took him a few more minutes to work his way to her upper neck, which was slightly easier but still required precision to avoid making Ashley uncomfortable. When he finished, Ashley said,

"You can finish off with my upper legs. Not my feet, my upper legs!"

"As you command," Shepard stated, and peeled back more of the blanket to massage her upper legs. Before he started though, he started to ask,

"I'd be great at massaging your upper legs, but…"

"Yeah yeah, keep it together, skipper."

Ashley then undid her belt and took off her pants as well as peeled off the blanket in order for Shepard to best massage her legs, and laid on her back. She looked more than beautiful in just her underwear, and couldn't help but stare at her entire body before he started. The curves on her belly, the suppleness of her breasts, the roundness of her legs, all of it caused Shepard's brain to release a shot of Oxytocin throughout his body. Before he gave Ashley an opportunity to tease him, Shepard quickly focused and began working on her upper legs. He started on the lower portion of the left leg, being sure to get both the front part and the muscular back part of the leg, and very slowly worked his way up. Ashley began to blush and breathe deep as she enjoyed this segment of her leg massage.

As Shepard got to the top, he looked at the precious thong keeping Ashley covered in her most sensitive area, and wondered if he could…'feel' that area. However, Ashley caught Shepard looking in that area and shot a quick dirty look that said, 'Don't you dare, im enjoying this,' so Shepard focused on massaging her thighs. When Shepard was done with her left leg, he hopped towards her right leg, started from the top and very slowly worked his way down. It was hard for Shepard to work his way down Ashley's right leg because she was really enjoying having her upper thigh massaged, but after an extended treatment, Shepard managed to work his way down and finish her massage.

Just as Ashley was about to say something, Joker announced over the intercom,

"Hey commander, we found a ship drifting in the system, looks like it was attacked. You better come take a look at this."

Shepard replied, "On my way, Joker." With a slight expression of sadness, Shepard said,

"Well, duty calls. Can I get a raincheck for later?"

"Aye aye, commander." Ashley said with a smile as she was putting her clothes back on. "Don't worry about me skipper, just get up to the bridge."


	3. Into the storm

**Authors Note: These next two chapters focus on action and adventure. If your looking for love between Shepard and Ashley and you want it now, skip on over to Chapter 5 and go down a few paragraphs! Otherwise, enjoy your reading!**

* * *

Shepard jogged up to the CIC and went to the cockpit to find out what was going on.

"Status report, Joker!"

"There's a frigate adrift a few minutes away from here, didn't even show up on sensors until just now. Must be a pirate ship, but I can't tell who attacked it, we'd need to get in closer."

"Take us in, Joker. We're going to try and board it if we can. If this is what I think it is, then there's some pirates that are gonna get an ass whipping."

"Aye aye, commander."

Joker took the Normandy in while Shepard donned his armor and recruited Garrus as well as Ashley to support him in boarding the ship. A few minutes after Shepard, Garrus and Ashley stood outside the airlock, waiting to board the ship, Joker relayed,

"The ship's taken some pretty heavy damage, but not from the geth. No distress beacons, there's about 4 to 5 lifesigns, and there's a hull breach in the cargo hold that's dividing the survivors, so keep your helmet on."

"Thanks, Joker. Get us in."

"Docking in 3, 2, 1…"

The ship made a few noises and lurched slightly as it docked with the pirate freighter. As the trio of soldiers stepped through the airlock and into the freighter, it looked and felt just like any other freighter out there, minus the fact it was run by pirates. There was no issues with oxygen or pressurization, so the hull breech seemed to be contained to the cargo hold. As Shepard led the team, Garrus noted,

"There's one life sign in the room ahead, pretty weak, but still alive."

"Then that's where we're going. Take positions and ready up."

The three of them readied up, and when Shepard cued '3' with his fingers, the trio rushed in, Shepard yelled, "Alliance military, freeze!", and all three of them quickly looked around with their weapons to ensure nobody was trying to shoot them. After a few tense moments, they focused their attention on a badly wounded pirate, who was sitting on the floor up against the wall and didn't seem to be in any more despair than he was before the trio rushed in.

"Shit, ugh, fuck, they don't pay me enough for this bitchin job."

As Shepard, Garrus and Ashley approached the pirate, the pirate continued,

"Great. Fuckin Alliance here to save the day."

Shepard began interrogating the pirate by kneeling down to the wounded pirate and asking,

"I'm only gonna ask you nice once. Who the hell shot up your ship and what the hell did you try to take?"

The pirate grimaced in pain as he answered, "Ask the damn captain, he got us into his mess."

As Shepard stood up and stomped on his laid-out right arm, he replied, "Not the answer I wanted."

"Aargh! Fuck," The pirate screamed, before pulling himself together and continued, "Alright! We were trying to steal some fancy tech the Greens were carrying. They're a gang. All I know is we tried to shoot up their ship and instead, they shot ours." The pirate coughed up blood before continuing, "I don't know if the rest of the crew is alive, we lost some when the cargo hold went to hell. But if they are, and they aren't like me, they're gonna want you dead."

Shepard drew his pistol out and said, "Pirates are criminals. I can kill criminals. And if you move from here or if I find out your two-timing me, I'll do worse than kill you." Shepard shot at the wall next to the pirate, letting out a blast that deafened the pirate, made him jerk to the side and intimidated him as he let out a yelp of pain from Shepard's actions. Shepard directed his team to the cargo hold door, and as soon as all the doors closed, he overrode the lock on the door, opening it and depressurizing the room. Before he went forward, Garrus mentioned,

"It looks like there's someone in the cargo hold, and two more in the forward deck. They're all wounded but in better shape than the last guy we saw."

"Keep your eyes sharp. Sounds like an ambush."

The trio of soldiers slowly walked through the cargo bay, their mag boots keeping them on the floor. There was quite a bit of cargo here, although nothing out of the ordinary, save for the fact that it was probably all stolen, and that it was roughed up from the attack. They kept their eyes peeled in case of an ambush. To their left, they could see a gaping, jagged hole near the top of the cargo hold, no doubt caused by a well-placed missile. As they approached the door leading to the forward deck, Garrus warned,

"Shepard, there's a guy right behind those stack of crates, looks like he's ready to shoot anyone that passes by."

"Roger that, Garrus. Let's light him up."

Shepard took out a disc grenade, aimed it, and arced it right around the corner where the pirate was standing. 2 seconds later, he triggered the detonator, causing a soft 'boom' to sound in the cargo hold, as well as slightly displacing the crates surrounding the grenade. The sight of a dead pirate in space armor as well as a shotgun floating away a few seconds later confirmed that he was dead.

"Good throwing, Shepard," Ashley replied.

"Keep sharp. We still got two more to go."

The trio approached the door leading to the forward deck, overrode the lock, and stepped into the void of the hallway leading to the forward deck. When the door closed, the room repressurized, enabling access to 3 doors. Garrus clarified,

"There's two lifesigns on the right, in the back of the room. Looks like they might be making a last stand."

"If they are, it won't last," Shepard replied.

Once again, the three of them readied up by the door, and when Shepard cued '3', they burst through the door, yelling "Alliance military, freeze!" and this time were greeted by poorly aimed assault rifle shots. Wasting no time, Shepard and Ashley took aim at the pirates in cover and returned fire, with Garrus providing fire support in case either of them missed. The two pirates went down in the blink of an eye, not even having a chance to take one last breath. The trio went up to the dead pirates, with weapons still drawn, and after confirming they were dead, examined the room for clues. Aside from the crude barricade of cover they made, the only thing of interest was a keycard that belonged to the captain.

They took the keycard and went to the bridge, where they used the card to examine the captain's logs and other important information. Apparently, they heard of a gang called the Greens who somehow got a hold of alien technology, though the only thing they were sure of was they wanted it. They were going to plan an attack on their base located at Israfil (Which is the closest asteroid from the freighter they were on) but decided to try hits on their ships instead. The logs and navigational information revealed they were behind several attacks in this sector, and traded their ill-gotten goods for red sand, shoddy weapons and other illicit products. Understanding why the pirates were attacked, and who to go after, Shepard locked the ship's controls in case the rogue pirate tried to pilot it before Alliance officials could lock him up, and downloaded incriminating information from the ship's logs to give to the Alliance. Before leaving, the trio took one quick look at the room adjacent to the bridge, and only found a few supplies, such as medi-gel, 500 credits, and some low-level mods for armor. Shepard took the credits and left the rest of the supplies behind. As they were about to return to the Normandy, Ashley asked,

"What are we gonna do with the survivor?"

"Who? Oh. Garrus, is he still there?"

"Yup, still in the same spot," Garrus replied.

"We'll leave him there and have the alliance deal with him. He'll make it."

"Understood, commander." Ashley replied.

The trio left the freighter and went back onto the Normandy. Shepard had Joker set a course for the pirate base on Israfil, and one hour later, the Normandy arrived at the asteroid.


	4. Traitors of civilization

**Authors Note: This chapter focuses on action and adventure. If your looking for love between Shepard and Ashley and you want it now, skip on over to Chapter 5 and go down a few paragraphs! Otherwise, enjoy your reading!**

* * *

Shepard filled out reports, prepared a plan of attack and notified Joker of his plan 10 minutes before they arrived at the base. When the Normandy arrived at the asteroid, Garrus and Ashley were briefed by Shepard outside the M35 mako.

"Alright, this is our plan! Joker's going to airdrop us right by the base, firing some missiles immediately after to take out most of the resistance. We're going to mop up the outside resistance in the Mako, then go inside the base, kill everyone that's armed, and investigate the base once we're clear. Any questions?"

Garrus asked, "Do we know what we're up against?"

Shepard replied, "Joker got a visual on the base, there's a turret, some sniper towers, and ground troops there. For a pirate base it's well-defended, but nothing we can't handle. Anything else?"

The silence that followed after Shepard's question indicated they were ready to go, so the trio boarded the mako and prepared for an airdrop. 5 minutes later, the Normandy's cargo doors opened, and Shepard floored the pedal as the mako flew out and down towards the ground. A few seconds after the mako flew out, the Normandy launched 2 missiles at the pirate base, taking out the turret, 2 of the sniper towers, and some of the ground troops. Once the mako safely landed on the ground through jet stabilization, Shepard acquired all targets still alive and went to work. Flooring the pedal, he first drove toward the sniper tower, where Ashley locked onto the first sniper tower and fired the cannon, obliterating the sniper and the top of the tower. As the mako absorbed a sniper shot from one of the other towers still standing, Shepard turned and drove towards some of the infantry trying to gun down the mako with their weapons. Ashley rotated the turret towards the remaining sniper tower, took aim, and watched as both the sniper and the tower exploded into many small pieces. Shepard managed to run over two pirates before Ashley took out the remaining troops with machine gun fire. With their work done, and with Garrus confirming no other targets outside, Shepard parked the mako in front of the door leading into the pirate base. All 3 of them exited the mako and went inside the base, preparing themselves for battle.

Inside, there were many boxes piled in the entrance room, indicating that these pirates were very successful, or very hollow in their plundering. As they approached the door leading to the cargo room, Garrus replied,

"I can't get a reading on who or how many is inside there, Shepard. The radar's jammed. We got a nasty fight ahead of us."

"Right. Shoot first, ask questions later. Ash, cover my 6. Garrus, take down anyone above us, and provide fire support otherwise." Shepard replied."

"You got it commander," Ashley replied.

"Right, Shepard," Garrus replied.

Once the three of them readied up against the cargo bay door, Shepard gave the cue of '3' and they immediately opened the door to breech the area. They looked around, and surprisingly found nobody inside, just a bunch of piled up boxes around the perimeter of the room. As they stepped into the middle of the cargo bay, a deep voice called out,

"Well, well…looks like the Alliance is catching onto us, eh boys?" A heavy-set man stepped forward, wearing heavy grey armor, a digital headset, and wielded a strange-looking assault rifle, although from where Shepard was standing, he couldn't tell if it was a geth rifle or a custom-made one. At the same time, 4 men stepped out to stand aside the heavy man, 3 men stepped out from behind the trio, and 2 more emerged from hiding behind boxes in front of the trio. Clearly, this was a trap, and it was trouble as well.

Shepard took one step forward and spoke, "You call this piracy? I've seen Krogan make better bases than this!"

The heavy man laughed and replied, "The Krogan would never obtain wealth of this nature. Now, you three…walk away now, and live. That's more than I can say for my comrades you killed outside."

Shepard, daunted but not showing any fear, replied with a renegade tone, "I came in here to bust your ass alive. I could have killed you right as soon as you started talking but I didn't. If you really value your comrades, drop your damn guns and surrender. You'll all be dead if you try taking on a spectre!"

Surprisingly, the heavy man laughed again and replied, "Us? Surrender? We'd rather…"

At that moment, Ashley interrupted Shepard by whispering, "He's not gonna budge. Ill take the 3 behind us when you shoot."

Shepard acknowledged Ashley's message as the heavy man finished,

"to you. Now…"

Suddenly, Shepard made a renegade move as he drew his pistol and fired at one of the pirates in front of him, hitting him in the head and killing him instantly. All 3 of them ran for cover as Ashley threw a grenade she had ready at the pirates behind him, killing one pirate but missing the other two that fired at them and ran to cover with her Assault Rifle drawn. Garrus ran to a box adjacent to Ashley, with his sniper rifle drawn and prepared to take aim at the pirates. All three of them took glancing hits as the pirates above and at level shot at them, although not nearly as much as they could have given Shepard's surprise attack.

When the three of them got to cover, Garrus quickly peeked out, took aim at a pirate up above and fired, hitting him directly in the head, but the shot was absorbed by his shields and he was only moderately wounded. Shepard ducked from cover as he took aim at the other pirate in front of him and fired 3 shots, all of them landing in his torso and taking him down. Shepard took a few hits from the pirates above but his shields were intact. Ashley rolled to a stack of boxes next to her, then peeked out with her assault rifle and fired a short burst of rounds, taking down a pirate running towards her with a shotgun. Garrus peeked out from the other side of his cover, took aim at a pirate spraying assault rifle rounds at Ashley, and shot him square in the chest, bringing him down quickly. As soon as Garrus fired that shot, he took a few hits from the pirates up above, including the heavy man and lost his shields, but not any blood.

With all the pirates dead on the ground floor, Shepard readied a grenade and threw it up above. The pirates were splitting apart before this happened but Shepard still managed to hit a few and kill one pirate as it exploded up above. Some of the pirates, aside from the heavy man, had shields, which were only weakened by the blast. Ashley threw a grenade up top as well to try and suppress their fire, and succeeded in killing another pirate and hitting a few others, bringing down the shields of some. Garrus peeked out of cover, took aim at a pirate that was stumbled by a grenade blast, and shot him in the head, blowing it clean off. As he was not taking any fire, Garrus quickly took a hasty shot at another pirate and hit him in the chest; he must have been wounded, for he went down after struggling in vain to stand.

Now it was him and the heavy man, who was now roaring in anger with his losses. Ashley broke from cover to open fire, but the heavy fire from the man's rifle surprisingly took down her shields and forced her back to cover, taking a few hits on her armor but not losing any blood. Shepard broke from cover and managed to land 2 pistol shots, which deflected off the man's shields, before he opened fire and forced Shepard back into cover. At the same time, Garrus broke from cover to aim his sniper rifle and shot the man's head, disabling his shields but not dealing any visible damage. The man was enraged, spraying assault rifle fire at all 3 of their positions and eroding their cover. He then threw a grenade at Garrus's position, causing his cover to be blown and him to be thrown back with the detonation. His shields partially regained strength but it was not enough to absorb the entire blow, causing Garrus to sustain moderate injuries. Ashley and Shepard managed to interrupt him from firing a deadly stream of assault rounds at Garrus by firing at him the moment the grenade exploded; he stumbled back as he took the many hits from Shepard and Ashley, but did not fall. Instead, he retreated further back and failed to provide suppressing fire as it missed Shepard and Ashley. Garrus looked up to see what was going on, and grouped with Shepard and Ashley in going upstairs. They had no choice, and had to hurry before the heavy man could regain any life or his shields.

Shepard wasted no time, for when he ran up the ramp, he dived to and from cover to acquire the heavy man's position; he was behind some boxes, and immediately rained fire at Shepard when he dove. Luckily, only a few hits hit Shepard, and he did not lose his shields, although he was close. He managed to keep the heavy man busy for a few moments in the hopes Ashley and Garrus could take him down, but lost his shields firing a few shots off at the heavy man, and lost some blood as a few assault rifle rounds hit him in his torso and arms. As Shepard was taking hits, Garrus and Ashley rounded the corner to take aim, and both of them opened fire at the same time, Garrus hitting his head and Ashley spraying a dozen rounds in his torso. The heavy man, unable to sustain such lethal damage, finally fell down.

As the trio approached the heavy man, they realized he was still alive, but dying. Shepard quickly shot the man's arm holding his rifle to prevent any counter-attacks. When Shepard finally came close to the man, he kicked away his rifle and said,

"Too bad it ended this way for you. Pirate scum like you never make the right choices."

"You don't know Shepard…what I have done." At that moment, the pirate took a faint last breath and died. Assured that the pirate leader is dead, Shepard then turned his attention to the strange rifle he had and picked it up. Upon examining it, he realized it was not geth or any kind of technology he's ever seen; what the hell kind of rifle was this? Ashley commented,

"Can't say ive seen that before. Doesn't look like geth technology. Where the hell did he get that?"

Shepard replied, "I don't know. But I don't like it."

Garrus noted, "If this is prothean technology he hoarded, this guy would have gotten a death sentence for sure. Better that they died now than later."

Shepard reluctantly stated, "They're pirates. They deserve no mercy. Yet we gave it to them."

"And your better for it, Shepard," Garrus replied.

"Come on, we gotta find out what they were doing here," Shepard commanded. He searched the pirate leader to find a tablet containing data about items they've received, as well as a password to a terminal in the back room of the upper floor. He also realized that what he thought were shields supplementing his armor were actually barriers; Shepard commented,

"I thought he had shields, looks like he had barriers instead."

Ashley replied, "What? How is that possible?"

As Shepard took apart his barrier technology, he held it up to his eye for a moment, then stated, "Doesn't look like geth technology either. Wonder if that's what some of the other pirates used."

"Worth taking a look," Ashley replied.

"Comeon, we gotta find out where the hell this all came from," Shepard commanded. He took the alien rifle, pocketed the barrier technology and went to the back room. Inside, there were ordinary guns and armor strewn about, as well as boxes, a terminal, and a table with mysterious trinkets on it.

"What the hell?" Ashley commented as the three of them approached the table with the mysterious trinkets. What caught Ashley's attention were pieces of some chitinous armor, almost as if it were peeled off from something; it was disgusting to look at. There were also some amber organic looking vials containing a black, constantly-moving substance, what looked like an amber injectable in a form unknown to them, and surprisingly, a few pieces of geth technology along with a rifle. The mixture of geth and alien technology troubled all three of them.

After a few moments of looking, Ashley continued, "Did the geth get this from the reapers? It would certainly explain why they're carrying around this technology."

Shepard replied, "Could be. Either that or the Reapers are twisting the geth into something we don't want them to be."

Garrus asked, "Why would the reapers want to transform a machine race? I could understand them giving them weapons and using them as cannon fodder, but it seems like a waste to turn them into…whatever."

Shepard focused his attention on the console and replied, "If we're gonna find answers, there might be some on that console." Shepard walked over to the console, typed in the password he found, and gained access to the gang's entire network of operations. There was a lot Shepard wanted to look over, but first, he tried to find logs of the gang's activities or cargo. He eventually found a folder of audio logs, and played back the last one. The person speaking in the logs was the heavy man they killed, and in it, he said,

"They left the colony intact like they said they would. Wasn't even a damn sign they were there, unless you count the crater a few miles away. We got it all – red sand, eezo, food, water, shelter, guns, geth hardware; hell, we'd take the whole damn colony away if we could. I wish we could just move our base there, but someone will catch on sooner or later that this WAS a colony, and people will ask questions. We still got a lot of cargo to haul, and I still gotta think where we're gonna hide what we can't fit. I don't like how this looks, but an opportunity like this is too good to pass up. I just hope nobody finds out what happened there."

The log ended. Shepard, curious as to who the man made a deal with, played the log previous from that. The heavy man spoke again,

"They honored their end of the bargain. I was ready to take them out, I almost thought making a deal with them was a mistake. They hide like a thief in the night. But they showed up, and offered us gifts. I wanted to kill them and take it all, but…I changed my mind. What they offered alone makes us even, and if what they is true about the colony, then we'll have more than we can dream of. I will never understand the collectors, or their ways of life. Maybe they were never meant to be understood. But I do know that they have given us the means to ensure our survival in the galaxy."

As the recording ended, Garrus replied, "The collectors? I thought they were a myth. If what he's saying is true, then we're one step closer to proving they're real."

Shepard replied, "I think we're one step closer to finding the reapers. If there's anyone who has intel or even technology about the reapers, it's them. Hell, for all we know, that could be reaper technology they gave them. But we can think about that later. Get all the weird technology laying around and put it on the mako. I'll download the logs and let the alliance know what the hell's going on here once we're back on the Normandy."

The trio searched the entire base, making sure to gather every piece of technology they didn't recognize, including the barrier technology on the dead pirates, and anything else on them, and loaded every last piece on the mako two hours later. The search was extensive, as was piling up the technology by the entrance to haul it out to the mako, but in the end, they had a huge treasure trove of alien technology that they wished they could keep for themselves.


	5. Exciting tensions

Back on the Normandy, Garrus was busy offloading the alien technology for the alliance to pick up after getting a medical check-up, Ashley was examining both the geth and alien rifle to determine effectiveness and any usual modifications, while Shepard got a medical check-up, then got busy in his quarters making reports to the alliance, inventorying their findings and detailing the events that happened up to this moment. Shepard suddenly received an incoming message into his quarters, and answered it a few moments later. Admiral Hackett greeted,

"Shepard. I understand you ran into trouble in the Vallhallan Threshold."

"Not just any kind of trouble, sir. These were pirates that would give even the alliance a run for it's credits."

"I see. Are your reports accurate in stating they had alien technology?"

"Yes. We know they had geth technology as well, but we can't figure out if this alien technology is a byproduct of the geth or something else."

"We don't want to take any chances making the council angry at us. Even though technically their policies talk about prothean technology, we don't want to risk losing all the power we've gained in the last 4 weeks to some misunderstanding. We're having the council send a ship to deal with the lone survivor and the technology; it'll be here within 24 hours."

"Why not send us to deliver the technology? We could offload it in 2 hours, less if we're lucky."

"There's something not right about what's going on. There could be more pirates in your sector with this kind of technology, or you might encounter the collectors. I'm more worried about the former, but if you run into the latter, I might have an excuse to actually pull you out of that system if the need arises."

"Sir?"

"Don't get your hopes up, Shepard. I know you want to take the fight to where the reapers are, but we don't even have a clue where in the galaxy they are. It's not just you im sending to try and find them either, I've got a list longer than my arm of ships trying to find evidence of reaper activity everywhere we can travel."

"Why send me after geth, then?"

"The geth were one of Saren's main allies, and if they worked with Saren, there's a chance Saren mentioned the reapers to them. I know im grasping at straws here, but it's better than sending you into a batarian cesspool. Your being productive in this system, Shepard. Even if you don't find evidence of reaper activity, you've given us resources we never had, eliminated threats in that sector, and discovered alien technology. Even one of these things would be more than I can say for some of the ships we've sent there."

"Understood, sir."

"Keep me posted. Hackett out."

Shepard was tempted to continue working on his reports, but decided to take a break instead, wanting to get away from all the stress the galaxy was pushing on him. He decided to get up and sit down on the edge of his bed, laying down after a few moments to try and relax some of his stress away. Just as he was beginning to get some shut-eye, his door opened, and Ashley, dressed in her blue casuals, proved to be a beautiful sight for his sore eyes. As Ashley approached him, she stated,

"I hope im not interrupting anything important."

"Actually, I was hoping you'd interrupt me. Writing reports isn't my idea of serving the alliance."

"There's always a downside to being a leader."

"There is. But…I get the feeling you want to ask something Ash, and I wanna hear it."

"Alright skipper," Ashley said in a playful tone as she took off her boots and stripped off her socks. "Ready to clean them up for me?" Ashley said as she wiggled her right foot before setting it down.

"I wanna cash in that raincheck," Shepard replied with a smile.

Ashley slowly approached Shepard, and being a tease, wanted to satisfy herself a bit first before satisfying Shepard. They embraced each other tightly as both of them laid back on the bed, covered up and kissed deeply for several minutes. Shepard had forgotten about this raincheck after only a few seconds of kissing; he would only remember it when Ashley cast aside the covers and moved her feet to Shepard's face, which began his foot worship. He started by smelling her feet, which had a strong cheesy, sweaty, and slightly vinegar smell. It was more intense than before, and gave Shepard more pleasure than he could imagine. Her feet felt soft, but they were also slightly wet, sweating from the effort they put in shooting up pirates and moving stuff. The multiple tastes Shepard's tongue felt as he licked Ashley's feet from her toes down to her heel overwhelmed his tongue as well, tasting salt, water, and a hint of vinegar as he went up and down, in-between, top to bottom, and side to side. Ashley laughed a little as Shepard licked her feet, feeling good sensations she never felt before.

As he began to massage Ashley's feet, she took off her shirt, and knew Shepard would be doing more than giving her a footjob. He was ready to get one the moment Ashley took off her socks, but he had to warm Ashley up first, and she was beginning to heat up, as well as experience pleasure from her massage. As Shepard massaged her feet with one hand, he used his other hand to quickly take off his shirt, then worked his way up to Ashley's right upper leg; the thought of getting a good thigh massage made her take off her pants. Ashley was about to light up on fire, and Shepard took her feet into his face as he massaged her upper thighs. It took some time, but Ashley eventually took her bra off, and at that point, Shepard decided now was the time to get a footjob. He took a break from giving Ashley a massage as he took off his pants; Ashley knew she was in for a good time when his boxers couldn't hide the enormous length of his boner. Shepard decided to be a tease as he slowly, but slowly, pulled down his boxers; little by little, his precious flesh was exposed…

Eventually, it all whipped out! Ashley's eyes widened slightly as her eyes caught the sight of Shepard's dick; to Ashley, her eyes almost popped out as Shepard revealed himself. But she had to focus, especially if she wanted to satisfy her inner desires. Shepard took Ashley's feet and slowly put them on his dick; the sensation he felt when their skin made contact was very satisfying; Ashley's feet were soft yet slightly cool to him, while Shepard's dick was hard yet soft, and exotic. Over the course of 28 minutes, Shepard partook in a footjob that required effort from both of them, but was uniquely satisfying. Ashley changed positions throughout the job, and took off her thong halfway, hoping Shepard would have enough endurance to please her inner self. Most forms of sex usually involve a workout between both parties, but it seems a footjob was more of a workout as it required more stimulation to reach a climax. After 28 minutes, Shepard started to feel as if he was going to climax, but held it as long he could, hoping for a huge explosion. Ashley didn't notice at first, but when he realized Shepard was close to letting go, she teased him with dirty talk as well as encouragement to break his hold faster. 2 minutes had passed; within a matter of seconds, Shepard went past the true point of no return, and finally splooged all over Ashley's soles, her legs and even her belly. Ashley laughed and gasped in joy when Shepard finally expressed his primal love. She was impressed with not only how much life Shepard had inside him, but also how far the force of his love flowed outside him.

After taking in the sights and sensations, Shepard wasn't intent on quitting yet. He decided to go for a cooldown by giving Ashley a titfuck. Her breasts were nice and supple, and she enjoyed the sensation of having her breasts fondled as Shepard fucked them for his and her pleasure. He wished he could go on a frenzy and titfuck her until he climaxed all over them, but decided to save his energy for Ashley's encore. After several minutes of soft, casual titfucking, Shepard slowly moved his dick out from between her breasts, moved down between her legs, and suddenly stuck his dick in her, causing her to yelp in pleasure. Ashley voiced an occasional moment of pleasure when giving a footjob, moreso when she was getting a titfuck, but she would be the most vocal at her encore.

He started with slow, sensual movements, to work Ashley up to her boiling point. While Shepard didn't mind fondling her feet using his hands and tongue during this moment, most of his fondling consisted of her breasts, which were in plain sight and easy to reach. He used the rhythm of Ashley's breaths to control how fast he went, having to slow down on occasion so Ashley could regain her sensation. Even though Shepard felt fucking her took longer than getting a footjob, it really took a little longer than half the time he needed for a footjob. Ashley also tried to hide how close she was to her orgasm, but towards the end, Shepard saw right through her and put even more effort into his work to make both of them climax sooner. When Shepard realized how close Ashley was, he had to hurry up as he was only halfway there, and didn't want to mess up his timing. The second Shepard was ready, Ashley finally had too much and let out her orgasm, to which Shepard responded by surrendering himself inside her not a moment too late. Ashley and Shepard shared an orgasm that could level settlements, and Ashley was so wound up that she could only mutter, "Oh my god…" before she would bathe in oxytocin. Both of them cooled down with a few kisses and body rubbing before they both involuntarily fell asleep, with Shepard managing to wrap them under some covers before then. They did not know if the crew heard them at all, and they did not care if they didn't like it.

To Shepard and Ashley, everything was black. There was no sight, nor a need for it. Everything felt good, there was nothing wrong that they could think of. Peace was on their mind, there was no need to fight. Their sensations felt fine, there was no need to adjust anything. Both of them were lost in their own primal mind, and both of them were caught in a spoon that, surprisingly, Ashley was leading. They were in as much peace as their bodies and mind could find.

Eventually, the good things came to an end. Ashley awoke from her slumber first, having lost track of time and space. She was thinking about how to ease out of her spoon without disturbing Shepard, but when Shepard stirred and awoke, she knew she could slowly ease her way out without disturbing him. As she did so, Shepard slowly turned towards her and said,

"Morning."

Ashley replied, "How do you know?"

"Because you made a new chapter in my life. I hope I did the same for you."

"You did." Ashley sat up slightly, still under the warm, heavenly influence of the covers holding their body heat. After taking a breath, Ashley continued, "I wasn't sure if I wanted to do this, but I tried, and it paid off."

"You weren't the only one." Shepard sat up next to her before he continued, "If I had a credit every time I did something under pressure, id build another Normandy."

Ashley looked at Shepard with a smile and commented, "You do well under pressure. That's why you're a spectre; and my one and only."

Shepard smiled back and replied, "Your as sharp as they get Ash; id never want another woman in the bed or watching my back on the field than you."

Ashley giggled a bit before playfully remarking, "Watch my back, you," as she pulled Shepard in for a few kisses before Shepard spooned Ashley as they decided to go back to sleep. They found more peace as time passed, even if it wasn't as heavenly as before. They both woke up at the same time later, and Shepard checked the time to see how much time they spent together. After he checked, he asked Ashley,

"Would you believe me if I told you this was the best 13 hours we spent together?"

Ashley replied, "Nuh-uh, seriously!?"

Shepard showed her the time on his omni-tool and was shocked that they spent 13 hours together; 13 hours their bodies will forever remember, even if it's just a deep, hidden memory.

"You ready to take on the day, LT?"

"Ready and able, commander!"

Both of them got out of bed and dressed up, but Ashley surprised Shepard by leaving her bra, her panties, and even her socks on Shepard's bed before putting on her casuals. As Ashley smiled at Shepard, she commented, "Don't worry. These are for you. I'll put on actual undergarments in my quarters; nobody else needs to see more of me."

"No, they don't." Shepard smiled back before continuing, "Thanks Ash."

"I love you, Shepard." Shepard and Ashley leaned in for a kiss before both of them left Shepard's quarters to carry out their routine duties on the Normandy.


End file.
